Duncan Edwards

Biography

In the parish church of St Francis, in the Midlands town of Dudley, stands a stained glass window, a unique memorial to the life of a remarkable young man. Few are the footballers who could have been commemorated in this way, but Duncan Edwards was not an ordinary footballer.He was 21 when he died, a victim of that terrible air crash that claimed the lives of eight Manchester United players in the snow and slush of Munich.The window is all the more touching for having been paid for largely by a football fan. What was it about a professional sportsman barely on the threshold of his career that not only moved so many people at his death, but also continues to keep a reverence for his memory more than 40 years on?Those who saw him play - and because his life was cut short there were comparatively few of them - speak of a colossus who comes just once in a lifetime. They have never forgotten. As the journalist Michael Henderson put it: "Men have grown old with his name on their lips."Edwards played his last game on February 5, 1958, and had fewer than five full seasons in League football. Yet he left behind such an impression that even the long passage of time is unable to erase it. Of all the names in the International Hall of Fame, his is the most poignant. Not just for what he was, but for what he may have become. And when fans voted to nominate the best players the world has ever seen, fittingly they remembered him.Despite the tenderness of his years, no one doubts that he was already a truly great player. What the world was robbed of was the glorious pleasure of witnessing just how great he could have been.One only needs to consider that "Big Duncan" had established himself as England's left-half at the age of 18. In 1966, when England won the World Cup, he would have been 29 and in his prime. The irony is that his position became that of the victorious captain, Bobby Moore, an honour Edwards himself might have held.Edwards was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, on October 1, 1936. By the time he was 11, he was starring for the town boys' team, in which the average age was 15.His talent fed a frenzy among the Football League's leading clubs to sign him. Edwards had joined United as an amateur when he was 15. But that did not stop their rivals from trying to poach him from under their noses.United took no chances. Their coach, Bert Whalley, drove through the night, arriving at the Edwards's home in the early hours so that he could rouse the precocious star from his bed and sign him before sunrise on the birthday when he became eligible to turn professional.He was an amazing prospect, tall and strong and, apart from an abundance of natural skill, he seemed to have non-stop, driving energy. In a few short years, many a match report would conclude that Edwards played like a one-man team.He made his First Division debut against Cardiff City in April 1953. Though a powerhouse at left-half, Edwards had the ability to play anywhere, even turning out as centre-forward in an emergency.And at 18 years and 183 days, he became the youngest player to be capped by England this century, a record only beaten by Michael Owen of Liverpool in 1998. Edwards played on his debut like a veteran international as England swept away the auld enemy Scotland 7-2 at Wembley.He was mature beyond his years and possessed an innate ability to read a game quickly. He was a creator as well as a destroyer and, in what was a galaxy of stars at Old Trafford, he more than any other symbolised the brilliance of the Busby Babes.In 1955-56, Edwards won the first of what was to be two successive First Division Championships. The title qualified United for the European Cup. But the English FA were not happy to let their teams enter the competition and had banned the previous season's Champions, Chelsea, from taking part.United manager Matt Busby was having none of the FA's nonsense, defied their instruction and lined up against the cream of Europe's club sides. His young team were an immediate success. They beat Belgian Champions Anderlecht 12-0 on aggregate, then saw off Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Bilbao before losing 5-3 on aggregate in the Semi-Final to the eventual winners Real Madrid, the team who had dominated the cup from the start.That season in the League, United were awesome. They went 12 games without defeat from the start of the season and won the title by 11 points under the old "two-for -a-win" rule.The only disappointment was defeat in the FA Cup Final when United - reduced to 10-men through injury to goalkeeper Ray Wood in the days before substitutes - went down 2-1 to Aston Villa. It cost them a deserved League and Cup double.But Edwards and the United Babes were ready for another crack at the European Cup. They reached the Quarter-Finals by beating first Shamrock Rovers and then Dukla Prague to set up a tie with Red Star Belgrade. They won the home first-leg 2-1 and drew 3-3 in Belgrade. They had reached the Semi-Finals again where they were to face the Italian Champions AC Milan.That 3-3 draw was Edwards last match. For the next day disaster struck . .It was 3.04 on a snowbound afternoon. The date was February 6, 1958. The day a team died.The Busby Babes, justly proud of their triumph, were flying home to Manchester. The plane in which they were travelling, a British European Airways Elizabethan, had stopped at Munich to refuel.There was slush on the runaway as the plane made its fateful third attempt to take off. The Elizabethan never made it. Just 54 seconds after the pilot opened the throttle, the plane hit the airport's perimeter fence and slithered 200 yards across a frozen field.A wing had been torn off and the tail section had broken away, scattering bodies into the snow.Twenty-one people died, among them seven of Busby's Babes - Roger Byrne, the captain, Tommy Taylor, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Geoff Bent. Eddie Colman and Billy Whelan.They were members of a team that had won back-to-back Championships, a team with a wonderful opportunity to achieve the dream of becoming the first in Britain to win the European Cup, a team that had not yet reached its peak but had seemed destined to dominate like no other before.Busby survived, clinging to life in an oxygen tent. Schoolchildren cut out pictures of the players from newspapers and stuck them on their classroom walls. Adults prayed for the injured, willing them to pull through. And foremost in their thoughts was Duncan Edwards.He fought. Oh, how that muscular frame fought. But after 15 days, he died from his terrible injuries. He had played 18 times for England. He held the world bedazzled at his feet. He was the bravest of the brave. But he could not make it.Jimmy Murphy, United's assistant manager and the man who not only did most to develop Edwards's abilities but also to rebuild the club after Munich, described his lost star as "the Kohinoor diamond among our crown jewels." Bobby Charlton, team-mate and Munich survivor, said: "If I had to play for my life and could take one man with me, it would be Duncan Edwards."It was to be a further 10 years before United would realise their dream of winning the European Cup. When they did, Busby spoke of "being cleansed." He had been haunted by the tragedy of his boys, and especially that of "Big Duncan."It is so long ago now, but the tenacious spirit of Edwards lives on in today's United. The pictures, though fading, remain too. Edwards, his short hair parted on the side, Fifties-style, in his red, v-necked, short-sleeved, United shirt.And the memories . . . of a player who was never allowed to discover how much more he might have achieved.Perhaps, to those aged men "with his name on their lips", he will always possess, like the film star James Dean, the radiance of eternal youth. Because he never grew old, he is a constant reminder of how life used to be, a hero frozen in time, forever a flourishing 21.

Born: 1 October, 1936. Dudley, England

International Caps: 18

International Goals: 5

Teams :Manchester United

Team Honours:

League Championship 1952, 56, 57

Eric Cantona

Biography

Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona (born May 24, 1966 in Marseille) is a French former footballer of the late 1980s and 1990s. He ended his professional footballing career at Manchester United where he won four Premiership titles in five years, including two league and FA Cup "doubles". Cantona is often regarded as having played a major talismanic role in the revival of Manchester United as a footballing powerhouse and he enjoys iconic status at the club. In 2001 he was voted their player of the century, and to this day United fans refer to him as "The King".
FranceCantona's first club was Auxerre, where he spent two years in the youth team before making his debut in 1983.The whole of 1984 saw Cantona's footballing career put on hold as he carried out his national service. After discharge he was loaned out to FC Martigues in the French Second Division. Rejoining Auxerre and signing a professional contract in 1986, his performances in the First Division were good enough to earn him his first full international cap.He was part of the French under-21 side that won the 1988 U21 European Championship and shortly after that success, he transferred to Olympique de Marseill (also known as "L'OM"), the club he supported as a boy, for a French record fee. Cantona had quite often shown signs of being 'short tempered' in his career to date, and in January 1989 during a friendly game against Torpedo Moscow he ripped off and threw away his jersey after being substituted. His club responded by banning him for a month. Just a few months earlier, he had been banned from international matches for insulting the national coach on TV.Having struggled to settle at Marseille, Cantona moved to Bordeaux on a six-month loan and then to Montpellier on a year-long loan. At Montpellier, he was involved in a fight with team-mate Jean-Claude Lemoult and threw his boots in Lemoult's face. The incident led to six players demanding that Cantona be sacked. However, with the support of team-mates such as Laurent Blanc and Carlos Valderrama, the club retained his services and Cantona was instrumental as the team went on to win the French Cup. His form persuaded Marseille to take him back.Back at Marseille, Cantona initially played well under the new coach Franz Beckenbauer. However, the Marseille chairman Bernard Tapie was not satisfied with the results, and replaced Beckenbauer with Raymond Goethals whom Cantona did not see eye-to-eye with. Cantona was also continually at odds with Tapie and despite helping the team win the French Division 1 title, he was transferred to Nîmes the following season.In December 1991, during a match for Nîmes he threw the ball at the referee, having been angered by one of his decisions. He was summoned to a disciplinary hearing by the French Football Federation and was banned for a month. Cantona responded by walking up to each member of the hearing committee in turn and calling him an "idiot". His ban was increased to 2 months. For Cantona this was the last straw and he announced his retirement from football in December 1991.The French national team coach Michel Platini was a keen fan of Cantona, and persuaded him to make a comeback. On the advice of Gérard Houllier, he moved to England to restart his car.
England
Leeds UnitedAfter having originally come to England to play for Sheffield Wednesday, in February 1992 Cantona joined Leeds United A.F.C., where he was a part of the team that won the final old First Division championship in (1991-92). He was also inspirational in the Charity Shield 4-3 win over Liverpool in 1992, scoring a hat-trick.He however left Leeds before the end of the 1992-93 season, which saw them finishing 17th in the newly formed Premier League (three places above relegation), moving to Manchester United in November 1992 for the relatively small fee of 1.2 million pounds, much to the disgust of the Leeds fans.
Manchester United
United's season had been disappointing up to Cantona's signing. They had had problems scoring goals: Brian McClair was off form, and summer signing Dion Dublin had broken his leg early in the season. However, Cantona quickly settled into the team, not only scoring many goals but also creating chances for the other players. For the next two years, United went on an amazing run, winning the inaugural Premiership in 1993 (their first Championship title in 26 years) and then "the double" in 1994, with Cantona's two penalties helping them to a 4-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Cantona was voted PFA Player Of The Year in 1994.Eric Cantona kicks Crystal Palace fan Simmons.Cantona then became infamous for an incident that occurred on 25 January 1995. In an away match against Crystal Palace, after being sent off by the referee for a vengeful kick on Palace defender Richard Shaw(after Shaw had pulled his shirt without punishment), he launched a 'kung-fu' style kick against an allegedly racially abusive[citation needed] Crystal Palace fan, Matthew Simmons.(At Simmons' subsequent trial for threatening language and behaviour, he attacked the prosecution counsel after being found guilty, leaping over a bench and executing a flying kick of his own. He was sentenced to seven days in jail, but only served 24 hours.) At a press conference called later, Cantona gave what is perhaps his most famous quote. As the journalists gathered to hear him speak, Cantona entered the room, sat down and said, in a slow and deliberate manner: "When the seagulls... follow the trawler... it's because they think... sardines will be thrown into the sea". He then got up from his seat and left, leaving many of the assembled crowd bemused. He was sentenced to 120 hours of community service after an appeal court overturned a 2 week prison sentence for assault. He was also suspended by The Football Association until the following October. Manchester United eventually lost the Premiership title to Blackburn.There had been much speculation that Cantona would leave English football when his ban finished, but Alex Ferguson persuaded him to stay in Manchester and Cantona was once again inspirational. United had sold several key players at the start of the season and replaced them with players from the club's youth team and their prospects of winning the league were not looking good. Much hype surrounded Cantona's return game, against Liverpool on 1 October 1995. In the match, Cantona set up a goal for Nicky Butt inside 2 minutes, and then scored a penalty after Ryan Giggs (the one player Cantona claimed had a telepathic understanding with him) had been upended. Eight months without competitive football had inevitably taken its toll and Cantona struggled for form prior to Christmas. Things then changed, however, with his goals helping United to recapture the league having been twelve points behind Newcastle United in January 1996. There was a spate of important 1-0 wins for United, with Cantona the goal scorer. Fittingly, it was the same 1-0 scoreline, and the same scorer, in that year's FA Cup Final against Liverpool. His redemption was complete after the scandals and lows of a year earlier. Cantona gave a post-match interview saying: "You know that's life. Up and down." Manchester United became the first team to win "the double" twice.Cantona galvanised the United team to greater success in Europe the following year, with the likes of Ryan Giggs and youngsters David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville emerging under his influence. As United retained the league in the 1996-97 season, Cantona had won six league titles in seven years, the exception being the 1995 season which he had largely missed through suspension. At the end of an admittedly lacklustre season by his standards, his announcement that he was retiring from football at the age of 30 still came as a surprise. Shortly afterwards, he became captain of the French National Beach Football team.In 2004 Cantona was quoted as saying "I'm so proud the fans still sing my name, but I fear tomorrow they will stop. I fear it because I love it. And everything you love, you fear you will lose."In 2006 The Sun newspaper reported Cantona as saying that Manchester United had lost their soul and that the current players were a bunch of sheep. The Old Trafford idol reckoned the days of maverick entertainers like himself and George Best were gone and feared the Red Devils were betraying their past by putting out boring, functional teams. However on the Contrary he was interviewed in the Number 7's issue of 'United Magazine' in August 2006 stating he will only come back to Manchester United as 'Number 1' (meaning not return as assistant manager or coach) and would create a team like no other and play the way he thinks football should be played.
French National TeamThe Art of Game painting featuring Eric Cantona, Phillip Neville, Gary Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Sir Alex Ferguson.Eric Cantona was given his full international début against West Germany in August 1987 by the then national team manager Henri Michel. In September 1988, angered after being dropped from the national team, Cantona insulted Michel in a post-match TV interview and was indefinitely banned from all international matches. However, Michel was sacked shortly after that having failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup.The new coach was Michel Platini and one of his first acts was to recall Cantona who was a favourite of his. He claimed that Cantona would be selected as long as he was playing competitive top-class football; Platini had initiated Cantona's move to England to restart his career. France qualified for the 1992 European Football Championship held in Sweden, but failed to win a single game despite the striking partnership of Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin. Platini resigned after the finals to be replaced by Gérard Houllier.Under Houllier, France then failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the U.S.A. after losing the final game 2:1 at home to Bulgaria when a draw would have sufficed. David Ginola lost the ball in the game which led to Bulgaria's winning goal by Emil Kostadinov. Cantona was reportedly angry with Ginola after the game. Houllier resigned and Aimé Jacquet took over.Jacquet began to rebuild the national team in preparation for Euro 96 (the 1996 European Championship) and appointed Cantona as the captain. Cantona remained the captain until the Selhurst Park incident in January 1995. The suspension which resulted from this incident also prevented him from playing in international matches.By the time Cantona's suspension had been completed, he had lost his role as the team's playmaker to Zinedine Zidane, as Jacquet had revamped the squad with some new blood and built it around Zidane. Cantona, Papin and Ginola were never again selected for the French team and missed Euro 96. Though there was criticism about Cantona's omission, as he was playing his best football in the FA Premier League, Jacquet himself stated that the team had done well without Cantona, and that he wanted to keep faith with the players who had taken them so far . The decision was vindicated as Les Bleus subsequently won the World Cup in 1998.To this day, Cantona still harbours resentment for the national team but also admiration for his adopted country; at Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he asserted he would support England and not France.Career in "retirement"Cantona's subsequent career has mostly been in the French cinema, primarily as an actor although he has also directed a short film Apporte-moi ton amour in 2002; outside of France, he had a cameo as the French ambassador in the movie Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett in 1998. See filmography below.Eric Cantona in an advert for Nike. Cantona was born in the same year as England's World Cup triumph.Since retiring from professional football Cantona has appeared in numerous European television advertisements, especially for Nike. Cantona made cameos in two memorable commercials, one starring the Brazilian national team playing football in an airport, and another involving the national teams of both Brazil and Portugal. In a worldwide advertising campaign during the run-up to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he starred as the organiser of "underground" games between football superstars like Thierry Henry, Hidetoshi Nakata, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo. In an earlier UK Nike commercial, he appeared playing "amateur" football on Hackne Marshes with other stars including Ian Wright, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. In a Nike campaign in the advance of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Cantona appears as the lead spokesman for the "Joga Bonito" organization, an association attempting to eliminate acting and fake play from football. He also starred in an Irish EuroMillions advertisement.Cantona has continued his interest in beach soccer games in southern Asia and at the Inaugural Kronenbourg beach soccer in 2002, in the city of Brighton. He managed the French Team which won the inaugural FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005. He also coached the 2006 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup French National Team, which finished in third place.Cantona's achievements in the English League were marked in 2002 when he was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame.

Date of birth: May 24, 1966
Place of birth : Marseille, France

Height:6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)

Playing position:Forward
Youth clubs:1981–1983

AuxerreSenior clubs1YearsClubApp (Gls):1983-1985

Auxerre: 1985-1986
FC Martigues :1986-1988
Marseille:1988-1989
Bordeaux:1989
Montpellier:1989-1990
Marseille:1990-1991
Nîmes:1991
Leeds United:1992
Manchester United:1992-1997

National team:1987–1994 France,45 (20)

George Best

Biography

Tell me, Mr Best, where did it all go wrong? So, it is said, the man from room service inquired as he delivered vintage champagne to the former football genius in his suite at a plush hotel.There was �20,000 in cash scattered on the bed which also contained the current Miss Universe.In today's laddish world, the remark may seem laughable. Yet the waiter had a point. George Best had squandered one of the rarest and most precious football talents ever seen in favour of a self-indulgent merry-go-round of birds and booze.He reached unimaginable heights with his outrageous skills in a career that lasted a mere six years at the top, before self-destructing into alcoholism, bankruptcy and jail.To this day, Best maintains that nothing went wrong, that he just got bored with it all. The most he has ever conceded about that waiter's question is: "Perhaps he saw something I didn't."But to see Best play in his prime was to be mesmerised by his dazzling ability. Few would argue that he is the most gifted footballer ever produced in the British Isles. There wasn't anything he couldn't do."He was quick, two-footed, beautifully balanced," his friend Michael Parkinson once wrote. "He could hit long and short passes with equal precision, was swift and fearless in the tackle and he reintroduced the verb 'to dribble'. He was as imaginative and whimsical in midfield as he was economical and deadly given a chance at goal."He could also head brilliantly and he never shirked from defending when he had to. In short, he was the perfect footballer. But while he was Roy of the Rovers on the field, sadly he was Roy of the Ravers off it.In those six magical seasons with United, he scored 115 goals in 290 games - six of them in one game! He won two League Championships, the European Cup and was voted European Football of the Year. Pele named him as his favourite player, which was remarkable considering Best's international career with Northern Ireland never allowed him the opportunity of appearing in the World Cup finals.Best, then a charming, street-urchin of a lad, arrived in Manchester from Belfast in 1961 at the age of 15 with another young player called Eric McMordie. But the genius which was to beguile the football world nearly didn't get a chance to flourish. After just 24 hours at Old Trafford, Best and McMordie felt they had seen enough and fled back to Ulster. Best's father telephoned United's manager Matt Busby and within two weeks he was back at the club.He turned professional in 1963 and made his debut that autumn at home against West Bromwich Albion who were then second in the League. Best had a fine game, giving West Brom's experienced full-back Graham Williams a roasting. One of his first moves was to show Williams the ball - and then he "nutmegged" him! United won 1-0 to keep them top of the table. Best had a hand in the goal, but he was replaced on the left wing for the next match by Ian Moir.Yet there is a lovely story that years later Williams, the seasoned pro he had embarrassed, met Best and said to him: "Will you stand still for a minute so I can look at your face?" "Why?" asked Best. "Because all I've ever seen of you," explained Williams, "is your arse disappearing down the touchline."Best was still finding it hard to settle in Manchester and, suffering from homesickness, took himself off to Belfast to spend Christmas with his family. While he was there the club got in touch. He was needed for Saturday's home game against Burnley who had thrashed United 6-1 at Turf Moor on Boxing Day.Best, a might cheekily for a 17-year-old with only one League game under his belt, said he was available to play provided the club not only flew him to Manchester, but also back to Belfast immediately after the game. The club agreed. Perhaps that was the defining moment when the young Best realised he had made the big time - and that the big time meant you could indulge yourself with attention and demands.United completely overturned that humiliating defeat, winning 5-1 and Best scored his first goal for the club. This time he was in the side to stay.By January 1964, the great triumvirate of those golden days at Old Trafford was appearing in a match together for the first time. Law-Charlton-Best made their debut as perhaps the greatest combination in British football in the return match with West Brom at the Hawthorns. Conditions were bad and several players wore basketball shoes to combat the slippery surface.United won 4-1 and, significantly, Law, Charlton and Best were the scorers, Law getting two. Best's goal is described by Graham McColl in his book, Manchester United in the Sixties, as the "best of the day.""He took a neat pass from Law," wrote McColl, "angled himself clear of the West Brom defence and then squeezed the ball neatly between the posts from the tightest of angles."It was typical Best flair that was to be repeated over and over again as he thrived at the heart of that incredible partnership.The spectre of the Munich air crash in which eight of the Busby Babes had died in 1958 still hung over the club. Busby had said it would take five years to rebuild and recover - and it had, with the FA Cup being won in 1963 in a 3-1 victory over Leicester.But what Best now offered was the catalyst to overcome those terrible memories. The team was playing football others could only dream about - and in Best they had found someone whose showmanship was so awesome that the Old Trafford crowds had a talisman to take away the pain. He didn't just beat defenders - he toyed with and tormented them.Best was the direct heir of those tragic Babes - Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Geoff Bent, Eddie Colman, Billy Whelan and, of course, Duncan Edwards. And, incredibly, he was better than any of them.But therein lay the crux of the Best problem. The expectancy, the pressures on him to perform at such a sustained level of greatness were so huge. He was, said the sportswriter David Miller, "fantasy brought to life." Yet those hopes were embodied in a character totally unsuited to deal with the demands on him. He was wayward and weak. And, in the end, the demons would win.But at this point, in the spring of 1964, the glory years of vintage Best were emerging. United went so close to honours that season. They finished second in the League, reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup in their first season back in Europe since Munich.In all three competitions, United had finished second best only to the eventual winners and in 1964-65 it would come right.They played some fabulous football that season, inflicting a 7-0 defeat on Aston Villa and a 10-1 aggregate hammering of Borussia Dortmund in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (forerunner of today's UEFA Cup). Dortmund were no mugs. They won the West German cup that year and the European Cup Winners' Cup the following season.United won the League Championship and were back in the European Cup. By now Best had become the first showbusiness footballer. He was receiving 1,000 fan mail letters a week. He was dubbed "the fifth Beatle" because, in the days when players had short hair, his mop resembled those of the pop group. The boutiques, modelling assignments and personal appearances business was booming for Best.It took its toll. United's early season form was poor. After eight League games, they had scored just eight goals. These were the days of attacking football, when big scores were not unusual, and United's total was the second lowest in the division. Best was dropped.He missed United's comeback match in the European Cup against the minnows HJK Helsinki. United squeaked the first leg away 3-2. Best was reinstated for the home leg. But the man who had replaced him on the left wing, John Aston, kept his place. Best would play at inside right.As if he needed to prove something, Best had a blinder. This was the stage he needed. The glamour of the European Cup. He scored twice, one of them a beauty as he glided through the Helsinki defence. United won 7-0. They were on their way.A 7-1 aggregate victory over ASK Voerwaerts followed next before a clash with mighty Benfica in the quarter-finals. United won the first leg 3-2 at Old Trafford, but would it be enough to take to Portugal? Benfica had never been beaten in 19 European Cup matches in the Stadium of Light yet United, in one of their best performances, were to clip the wings of the Eagles of Lisbon.The final score was 5-1. It was a shattering defeat for Benfica. Their star player Eusebio was in his prime and he had been presented with the European Footballer of the Year trophy just before the kick-off.Busby's instructions had been to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes and see how things went. With just 12 minutes gone, Best had scored twice - once with a header, and the second a moment of magic as he beat three men before shooting past the goalkeeper.Afterwards, Busby turned to Best and said wryly: "You obviously weren't listening."The semi-final marked a return to Belgrade to play Partizan in the first leg. United went down 2-0, Best injured a knee and missed the rest of the season. His team-mates won the home leg 1-0, but the adventure was over for another year. United finished fourth in Division One. Busby's dream of winning the European Cup would have to wait.The summer of 1966 was dominated by England's success in the World Cup. For Best, however, it was a period of recovery after having a cartilage operation. The rest did him good. On the opening day of the season against West Brom, Best, now on the right wing, scored in the first minute. He was back.With no Europe to distract them, United won the title in style, wrapping up the Championship with a 6-1 drubbing of West Ham. Everything was set for the all-important assault on the European Cup and this would be the year that dreams came true.First, however, United undertook a remarkable overseas tour. It began in May in Los Angeles, went on to New Zealand, and finished at the end of June in Western Australia. It was an extraordinary preparation for a season that would begin in just six weeks time.Significantly, one of those tour matches was against Benfica. United lost 3-1.United beat Hibernian Valletta of Malta and FC Sarajevo of Yugoslavia in the first two rounds of the European Cup before meeting Gornik Zabrze of Poland in the quarter-finals. They took a 2-0 lead from the first leg to Poland where they had to play on a snow covered pitch. It continued to snow during the match and United went down 1-0. But they were through to the semis where they would face Real Madrid. Busby told journalists: " I feel this is our year."United held only a fragile 1-0 lead as they went to the Bernabeau for the second leg against Real. Law was out with an injury and by half-time United were 3-1 down. It seemed as if the dream was dying again.Somehow United stuck to the task and miraculously came away with a 3-3 draw. At last, they had reached the European Cup Final.The night of May 29 at Wembley was to be the fulfillment of United's prized ambition. The Red Devils of Manchester against the Red Devils of Lisbon . . the old foes, Eusebio's Benfica.Benfica were vastly experienced. They had played 52 European Cup ties, winning 29. United had played 32 and won 20. Benfica, who had already won the trophy twice, were appearing in their fifth European Cup Final in eight years. It was United's first. And in Eusebio, Benfica had the second highest goalscorer of all time in the competition with 36, topped only by the peerless Di Stefano of Real Madrid with 49.Just after half-time, Bobby Charlton put United in front with a rare header. There were only nine minutes to the final whistle when United's defence left Graca unmarked and he stunned the crowd with an equaliser. United were tiring, Benfica coming on strong. With time running out, Eusebio twice had good chances to grab the glory. Each time he was foiled by Alex Stepney in goal. Benfica were overunning United and looked certain to get the winner. Then the whistle went. United had the chance to regroup before extra time.It was then that Best took the game by the scruff of the neck. He received the ball with his back to goal. He drifted past his marker with a characteristic swivel, ghosted past the goalkeeper and struck the ball home. Sheer magic."I used to dream about taking the ball round the keeper, stopping it on the line and then getting on my hands and knees and heading it into the net," Best said later. "When I scored against Benfica in the European Cup Final I nearly did it. I left the keeper for dead, but then I chickened out. I might have given the boss a heart attack."Brian Kidd, United's present-day assistant manager, headed the third goal and Charlton, United's captain and link with the team of Munich, scored the last for a crushing 4-1 triumph.United, and Best, however, had reached their pinnacle. Best was voted European Footballer of the Year, but within twelve months the cracks were appearing.Best was sent off for fighting in the World Clubs Cup against the South American champions Estudiantes of Argentina. United's League form was poor and they finished the 1968-69 season in eleventh place. They got as far as the semi-finals in the European Cup, but at the end of the season, Busby retired.His successor as team manager was Wilf McGuinness, an Old Trafford veteran who had been in charge of the youth team. He didn't last long before Frank O'Farrell took over.Best began to drift. Even the great Sir Matt had his problems with him, but the other managers just could not control him. Best began to drink more and missed out on training. He was on the slippery slope.There were still magical days, however, when he achieved the seemingly impossible. Such as an FA Cup fifth round tie at Northampton in the winter of 1970. Best was returning after suspension and gave a complete exhibition of his unique skills. United won 8-2. Best scored six of them!Such days were becoming rarer, however. More usually, Best was the subject of newspaper headlines featuring some drunken binge. By the end of that season it was over. He was only 25.What followed was an extraordinary and speedy descent. He briefly re-appeared for United in 1973, but now he hawked his God-given talent to some distant outposts of the game. The genius that was Best turned out for Stockport County, Bournemouth, Fulham, Hibernian, Los Angeles Aztecs, Cork Celtic, Fort Lauderdale Strikers, San Jose Earthquakes, Dunstable Town, Brisbane Lions and Ford Open Prison.That last team acquired his services courtesy of a drink-driving conviction and assault on a policeman.Best's explanations are interesting. Whatever he lacked in self-discipline, he was never less than honest with himself. "I was born with a great gift," he said, "and sometimes with that comes a destructive streak."Just as I wanted to outdo everyone when I played, I had to outdo everyone when we were out on the town."He once admitted that, when playing in America, he was living in a house by the sea. But as he had to pass a bar to get to the beach he never actually made it to the water.And as Tommy Docherty said: "George was a fantastic player and he would have been even better if he'd been able to pass nightclubs the way he passed the ball."Perhaps he never really matured. His former wife Angie, mother of his son Calum, said she couldn't look after two babies, so the older one had to go. Almost 25 years after his star burnt out, Best was voted the greatest British sportsman of all time by a panel of 1,000 journalists and sports personalities.The irony is, as Michael Parkinson said, that "the only tragedy George Best has to confront is that he will never know how good he could have been."

Born: 22 May, 1946. Belfast, Northern Ireland

Honours:

Football League Championship winners medal, 1965 & 1967

UEFA European Cup winners medal,1968

European Footballer of the Year,1968

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year,1968

Holds the record for the most goals by a Manchester United player in a single match,

six against Northampton Town,

FA Cup fifth round on February 8,

1970. United won the match 8-2.

Freeman of Castlereagh,

2002 Inaugural Inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame,

2002 Honorary Doctorate from the Queen's University of Belfast,

2001 PFA Special Merit Award,for his services to football, 2006

Appearances and goals for each club

Pre -1963 - Cregagh Boys Club

1963-1974 - Manchester United: 466 games, 178 goals, (Lge 361/137, FA Cup 46/21, Lge Cup 25/9, Europe 34/11)

1974-1974 - Jewish Guild of Johannesburg: 5 games

1975-1975 - Dunstable Town (friendlies)

1975-1975 - Stockport County: 3 games, 2 goals

1976-1976 - Cork Celtic: 3 games, 0 goals

1976-1976 - Los Angeles Aztecs: 24 games, 15 goals (NASL Season only)

1976-1977 - Fulham: 47 games, 10 goals

1977-1978 - Los Angeles Aztecs: 37 games, 14 goals (NASL Season only)

1978-1979 - Fort Lauderdale Strikers: 33 games, 7 goals (NASL Season only)

1979-1980 - Hibernian: 22 games, 3 goals

1980-1981 - San Jose Earthquakes: 56 games, 21 goals (NASL Season only)

1983-1983 - Bournemouth: 5 games, 0 goals

1983-1983 - Brisbane Lions: 4 games, 0 goals

1984-1984 - Tobermore United: 1 game, 0 goals

International: 1964-1978 - Northern Ireland: 37 games, 9 goals

In memory of George Best